When vehicles operate over enemy territory they are often, if not continuously, subjected to illumination by electromagnetic radiation, such as radar, the enemy objectives being the detection, location and destruction of such vehicles at the earliest possible moment.
Stealth vehicles of the prior art, while often being treated with antireflective coatings in an effort to reduce their vulnerability to detection, have nevertheless remained relatively detectable. This detectability is an inherent characteristic of the vehicle shape and, since vehicle shape has usually been determined by design criteria other than stealth, large radar cross sections result. Thus due to improperly shaped vehicles, radar cross section reduction has been only marginally successful. The success of such vehicles penetrating enemy territory can be significantly enhanced if radar detection ranges can be shortened or eliminated by reducing radar cross section which in turn reduces the signal at the radar receiver.
Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a vehicle whose external surfaces are configured to make such vehicles substantially invisible to radar by reducing the signal received below receiver sensitivity levels and/or clutter.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a vehicle whose surface configuration is designed so that search radar directed to detect its presence is provided with a response signal which has wide amplitude variation relative to vehicle attitude with respect to the illuminating radar.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a vehicle having a substantial absence of curved surfaces in order to satisfy these objectives.